i+academy’s online course on Hygiene Concepts, Hygiene Concepts, Cross-contamination risks and Cleaning Validation, has come to a close with a resounding success: 20 of the 22 participants completed the course and received a certificate, which makes for a completion rate of 92%.
This comes close to our record of the 100% completion rate for our online course Good Manufacturing Practices for Medicines and Healthcare Products – Herbal and Traditional Medicines Included, implemented during the last quarter of the past year.
As online education goes, these are outstanding results.
In the next entries, we will share some insights on the factors that contributed to the success of the two online courses. But first some background information.
Background
- The Hygiene course counted 22 participants from 14 African countries [Burkina Faso, Botswana, Algeria, Egypt, United Kingdom, Kenya, Niger, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe].
- The GMP course had 21 participants from 7 countries [Burundi, Kenya, Netherlands, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda].
- The participation by gender was almost equal.
- The GMP course was facilitated in a session with a six-week duration, the Hygiene course had a duration of three weeks.
Building blocks to success
We identified three building blocks that contributed to the success of the courses.
- Active involvement of both African and donor organisations.
The regional stakeholders for the GMP course were the East African Community (EAC), and the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and Pan-African Quality Infrastructure (PAQI) for the Hygiene course. The level of engagement extended to the higher echelons of their organisations: during the e-award ceremony, certificates were virtually handed over by the Deputy Secretary General of EAC, and the Secretary General of ARSO respectively.
Stakeholders on the cooperation and donorship side were on both occasions the German Cooperation, a first time in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and GFA Consulting Group (for the GMP course); a second time with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig und Berlin (PTB) (for the hygiene course). During both projects, an enthusiastic and capable focus person oversaw coordination and administration.
- Combination of participants from both public and private sector.
For both courses, the group of participants consisted of many professionals from the public sector, including EAC regulatory authorities, other African regulatory authorities, governmental representatives, staff from research institutions, training centres and academia.
A smaller but significant group of participants came from the private sector. They were medicines and medical devices manufacturers from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya, Niger, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia; and producers of herbal medicines and herbal food supplements from Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda (for the GMP course).
Bringing together both the regulators/inspectors, and the regulated/inspected was a rewarding learning experience. A special assignment was set up during the course for each affiliation, and during the closing meeting a time slot was included for a presentation of one submission by both the public and the private sector.
- An engaged and expert lead facilitator sustained by a well-oiled, professional learning platform.
Both courses have been created and are facilitated by an expert in the field of GMP and education, Christina Foerg-Wimmer. She belongs to the exceptional group of online educators who have both extensive theoretical and practical knowledge in their field of expertise and combine this with a true commitment towards their students and the learning process.
The courses find place on our professional learning platform, iplusacademy.org. This online Moodle environment has been operating successfully since 2013 and is specialised in offering training in low bandwidth environments on all aspects of health supply chain management. The community of learning on the platform is counting more than 4300 users coming from 142 different countries.
We received great feedback on the course. Around 90% of the students say the course met their expectations and learning objectives, and that it helped them improve their way of working.
120 participants have already registered for additional sessions to be held in the upcoming months. Keep following us, so you won’t miss our updates about it.
Interested to participate? Need more info? Please contact i+academy at
